Why Mr. Satan Has His Own Ichiban Kuji Rubber Strap

Mr. Satan Dragon Ball Z Ichiban Kuji G Prize Rubber Strap

A Lottery Prize from Japan’s Ichiban Kuji System

This item is a rubber strap — a flat charm made from soft PVC, attached to a ball chain — produced by Bandai Spirits for their Ichiban Kuji lottery line. Ichiban Kuji runs as a timed campaign at Japanese convenience stores (Lawson being the primary retail partner) and hobby shops. Each ticket costs a fixed price and yields one prize selected by grade. G Prize sits in the lower portion of the tier system — below the large figures awarded at A and B — where compact items like keychains, clear files, and rubber straps typically land.

Because the lottery runs for a limited window at Japan-only retail locations, prizes move into the secondary market once the campaign ends. There is no standalone shelf release for items like this one.

Mr. Satan and His Role in Dragon Ball Z

Dragon Ball Z is the anime sequel to Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball manga, broadcast on Fuji TV from 1989 to 1996 across 291 episodes and subsequently aired in over 80 countries. The series follows Son Goku through the Saiyan, Frieza, Cell, and Majin Buu story arcs, and played a significant role in bringing anime to mainstream audiences in North America, Europe, and Latin America during the 1990s and 2000s.

Mr. Satan enters the story during the Cell arc as the reigning World Martial Arts Tournament champion, celebrated by the public as Earth’s strongest man. The irony at the heart of the character is deliberate: he has no Ki ability whatsoever — an entirely ordinary human whose reputation has somehow survived sustained contact with the actual superhuman combatants. In the Majin Buu arc he takes on a story-meaningful role, forming an unlikely friendship with Buu that draws out the creature’s capacity for goodness.

His design is immediately recognizable — black afro, thick mustache, dark red gi, orange undershirt, blue wristbands. North American Funimation releases renamed him Hercule to avoid the religious associations of “Satan” in English; both names circulate freely across international fan communities and collector listings.

Why Supporting-Cast Goods Draw a Specific Kind of Attention

Mr. Satan has a substantial fan following built around the comedy of his situation, the warmth of his Buu arc role, and the persistent gap between his legend and his actual power. That affection doesn’t always translate into merchandise. Dragon Ball releases tend to center on Goku, Vegeta, and the primary fighters, which means items dedicated specifically to Mr. Satan — particularly lottery exclusives that never had a standard retail life — draw genuine interest from collectors focused on the franchise’s supporting cast.

The rubber strap format itself carries a following among fans who prefer flat, cel-animation-referencing items over three-dimensional figures. The G Prize designation is shorthand, within the Ichiban Kuji-following collector community, for a lottery-origin piece — context that matters to international buyers who want to understand what they are acquiring and how it reached the market.